Whenever I See Your Smiling Face
by rjwritergirl
Summary: Modern AU fic. Anna Smith teaches English at Levinson Academy. One of her students is Ruby Bates, she is the daughter of the Chief Inspector. John Bates. Anna, Ruby and John get close, but when hard times strike, will they be able to stick together or be broken apart?
1. Chapter 1

_**Here's my new Banna fic, it's my first Modern AU fic, Anna is a teacher as Levinson Academy, she gets close to the Bates family, John and his daughter 15 year old daughter Ruby. I am claiming some ignorance of the English police and school system, I do know a few things about it, but not very much.**_

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_**C**__**hapter 1: **_

Ruby Bates sighed heavily as she peeked out into the rain. "Why does it rain so much?" She asked.

"Because this is England." Her father responded, He pulled into the long drive of Ruby's school- Levinson Academy.

"But it's the first day of school."

"And we both know you would complain if it was sunny," John Bates told his daughter. "I know you haven't looked forward to this school year since Abby moved."

"True." Ruby acknowledged, "at least it matches my mood. Why do I have to go to this hoity toity school anyway, Dad?" She tugged at the skirt on her uniform.

"Because I want you to have a good education." Her father pulled into a parking slot. "Have a good day at school."

Ruby sighed heavily again as she grabbed her book bag and an umbrella. "Bye Dad, have a good day at work, don't play with Isis too much." When her dad leaned to kiss her on the forehead she made a face, pulled away and muttered something that sounded like "Ugggh Dad, not in front of my school mates." She opened the car door and went out into the rain.

John watched his daughter disappear into the school and hoped she wouldn't have too hard of a day. Her best friend Abby had moved away during the summer and Ruby was not looking forward to having to make a new best friend.

As he prepared to drive to work however, his attention was drawn to a short blond woman who was walking to the front doors, struggling with a box. John knew from experience that the doors to the school were heavy and she would need to set the box down to open them. So he ducked into the rain to open the doors for her.

The wind swept her in, and set her box down to shake the rain off. "Thank you so much." She said, looking up at him.

"You're welcome,"

"Now, where am I supposed to go?" The blonde woman was clearly speaking to herself but John spoke up as he closed the door.

"That depends, what are you here for?"

"Teaching, it's my first year here." The woman said, her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun and he could see bright blue eyes peering out from the longest lashes he'd ever seen. She had defined but graceful features and had the aura of being a very pleasant person to be around.

"Anna!" Both John and Anna turned as they heard Mrs. Crawley's voice.

"Hello Mrs. Crawley," Anna's voice was warm, it was clear she knew the woman. "I was just trying to figure out everything, where I'm supposed to go and all that. Aren't I supposed to help with the morning assembly ?"

"We had to change the times at the last moment you've got time to finish getting your room ready before, be in the library in an hour."

"All right, I remember where my room is. Thank you." Anna bent to pick up the box only to find that John had picked it up.

"This box is heavy and there are a lot of stairs, I'll be happy to carry it."

"Thank you," Anna smiled, John's heart flipped in his chest. "Follow me." She lead him through a series of hallways and stairwells to a classroom in a part of the school he had never been to before. "I'm going to guess you have a child who attends school here."

"My daughter, Ruby. She's in year ten." John said.

"I teach year ten, I don't recall there being a Ruby on my list of students."

"She's registered under her full name Ruben E. Bates. Her mother insisted on the name, but I got to pick the nickname." John said. "I'm John Bates, by the way, and you are..."

"Anna Smith, I teach English for years nine, ten and eleven."

John smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine, thank you for helping me with my box." Anna told him.

"I'd best get going and let you finish with your classroom." John said, he nodded to the woman and then turned around and left. As he walked through the bottom floor of the school he could see Ruby looking at her new schedule. "Bye Ruby!" he called, Ruby looked up, not recognizing the voice for a moment.

"Bye Dad." Ruby sounded embarrassed. He could see some other children looking at Ruby and talking to their friends. His heart clenched, he didn't like to see his daughter so alone.

"Years ten, eleven and twelve, please make your way to your first class so that you can drop your bags off before morning assembly." He heard Cora announce to the older students. Ruby's shoulders dropped and she began to make her way to the stairwell. As she passed him, she glanced up and smiled sadly.

'_Love you Dad_.' She mouthed to him.

_'Love you more.'_ He mouthed back. He left the school then, thankfully the rain had abated and he was able to get to work on time.

"I thought you'd be late, with the rain and taking Ruby to school again." Jimmy, one of the Inspectors spoke.

"You learn organizational skills when you're a parent, such as how to get up several hours before you have to leave for somewhere to make sure you're there on time." John said, he went to his desk by the Superintendent's office. "Having a child teaches you responsibility."

"Didn't her mother leave?" Inspector Barrow drawled from his desk. "Sure didn't seem to teach her responsibility."

"She was responsible enough to leave." John looked Thomas in the eye, daring him to say any more on the subject.

Thomas raised an eyebrow and turned back to his desk, muttering to himself.

"Keep muttering Barrow, I'll put you back on the beat today." John said slowly, keeping his eyes on the paper work that Robert had put on his desk.

Work was slow that day, hours later when all his paper work was done, John approached the superintendent's office to request that he go home an hour early to pick Ruby up from Chorus. It had started raining again and he didn't want his daughter- however independent she was- to walk home in the rain. Just as John got to the door of the office though, Robert got a call. He motioned to John he'd be a moment but after a moment, he motioned Bates inside. "Cora, let me put you on speaker, Bates is right here." He motioned for John to come in and close the door. "It's about Ruby."

John closed the door, his heart and mind racing, what had happened at school? And why hadn't they called him first? After all, he was Ruby's father.

"We have a bit of a situation, there has been some vandalizing to the school, spray paint on the wall, Ruby was found at the scene of it. She seems to have been the one who did it."

"Seems to be?" Robert asked.

"I don't believe she was acting alone but no one else was in the room and she hasn't said who else she was with."

John sighed, "Will the school be pressing charges or filing a report? I wouldn't blame you or try to convince you not to."

"Since this is a first time offense, we won't but if she doesn't do it again, we'll have no choice. We do want you to come down to the school for a meeting, if you can today, that would be good, tomorrow would be fine as well."

"I'll be down there as soon as I can," John said, "It should take about 20 minutes."

"All right, I'll see you then."

John left then, no longer needing to get permission to leave early. The drive was short, but by the time he pulled into the school parking lot, he knew one thing. Ruby would be grounded until the end of the year.

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	2. Chapter 2

_**Here's chapter 2! Thank you to those who have reviewed so far, I love getting reviews!**_

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When John entered the Headmistresses office, Ruby sat in front of the desk, with several school staff sitting around her, Cora Crawley the headmistress sat behind it. They all turned when they heard the door opening, John recognized Mr. Carson, the head of discipline, Mrs. Hughes, the head guidance counselor and the teacher he had met earlier in the day, Miss Smith.

"What happened?" John asked.

"I caught Ruby spray painting one of the walls in an unused classroom." Miss Smith said, she was sitting next to Ruby, who was glaring at everyone.

"Ruby what on earth were you thinking doing that?"

"Damn this paint smells bad." Ruby's reply was instantaneous.

John had to bite back a sudden laugh. As mad as he was about Ruby's actions, she had a very sarcastic sense of humor that almost never failed to make him laugh. "Ruby Bates." he said sternly.

"Well I was thinking that."

"Why on earth would you do it?"

"I hate this school." Ruby shrugged, her voice dull.

John could see Mrs. Hughes paying close attention to Ruby, he was glad that she was paying attention to his daughter. He had noticed over the summer that she had become withdrawn but had simply written it off as teenage angst. He'd thought that Ruby had simply missed her best friend, apparently it was something more and he knew he would get to the bottom of it.

"We were discussing her punishment when you walked in Mr. Bates." Cora said.

"I feel she should be in detention for the rest of the term." Mr. Carson said, his disapproving tone made it clear that he'd been shot down.

"I understand the need for punishment, she defaced school property, but I highly doubt that setting her in detention for three months is good idea." Cora said smoothly.

"The punishment you have for her, is fine with me." John said, "If I have a say in it, she should help clean up wherever she was painting."

Ruby sighed heavily, which the adults ignored, and they continued talking.

"I have a request." Miss Smith spoke up then, "what if she were to help me on Saturday mornings when I came into school to do the extra work, helping file papers I grade, things like that?"

"That would be a good idea." Cora said, ignoring Ruby's scoff of protest. "Along with ten detentions which have already been scheduled, they start tomorrow and continue every school day until they are completed."

"She's got doctor appointments on Thursdays." John spoke up.

"Well leave her Thursday afternoons open for those appointments." Cora promised, she turned to the computer and began doing something on it.

"What about Monday's and Wednesday's? I'm in Chorus!" Ruby protested.

"Which is where you were supposed to be instead of defacing school property." Mr. Carson said, Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Ruby Bates, check your attitude at the door." John told his daughter.

"I didn't even finish it, I had barely started, you guys are all acting like I spray painted a freaking mural on the wall, it's a couple of lines!"

"And it's a good thing that you were caught before you painted any more, if you had I'd agree with Mr Carson on you having detention for the rest of the term." There was a pause, and John spoke again, still firmly. "Stop the attitude Reuben." The use of her full name surprised Ruby enough that she clamped her mouth shut.

The adults continued to talk and soon it was settled, Ruby would report to the first detention the next afternoon and Miss Smith would come to pick Ruby up bright and early on Saturday morning.

After thanking the school officials the two Bates' went to the car. "I can not believe you did that, Ruby." John said, furious with his daughter. "They could have pressed charges against you then you'd have a record." When they got into the car, he held his hand out. "Cell phone."

Sighing heavily, Ruby dug around in her pockets and pulled out her cell phone. John spoke again, "Nook."

"At home, charging." Ruby told him.

"Get it when we get home and no TV unless it's for school for the rest of the term."

"Term doesn't end until December." Ruby said.

"I know." John told his daughter, he pulled out of the school parking lot and began the drive home.

Ruby sighed heavily and turned away from him. John pulled up into the parking slot in front of their small flat and Ruby got out. She quickly went inside, John clenched the steering wheel in front of him. Ruby could be so frustrating some times, he could see a lot of Vera in her and he did not want his daughter to end up like her mother.

_It's the first time she's done this_, he reminded himself, _we can step in and keep it- or anything other major trouble- from happening again._

Finally, John got out of the car and went into their flat. It was small, only one floor with only a few rooms. Ruby had already put the TV remote on her Nook, both were on the bookshelf. "Besides vandalizing, what happened at school today?"

"Not much, Mr. Gregson disappeared at the end of last year, and we have a new teacher, Miss Smith, she's okay."

"Who are your teachers this year?" John asked.

Ruby pulled out her schedule, "Mr. Mosley for Botany, Mr. Branson for History again, Ms. Dawson for Geometry, I didn't realize that she taught more then Algebra, Miss Smith for English, Ms. MacClare for Dance, and Ms. Baxter for Home Ec."

"I've never heard of Ms. MacClare and Ms. Baxter." John commented, he started going through cupboards, he usually didn't get home in time to make much more then pasta or a ready made frozen meal but since he'd gotten home earlier then normal, he could make something a little more involved.

"What are we going to have for dinner?" Ruby asked, she got her books out of her bag and began to flip through the papers she'd gotten at the first day.

"Don't forget we'll go through and get your test dates down sometime this week."

"Dad, I'm fifteen years old I think I can remember to study for tests." Ruby complained, rolling her eyes, she separated each of her syllabus' from the rest of her papers though, and set it all aside. "Wait, have you heard of Miss Smith?" Ruby asked, "She's new as well, how do you know her but not Baxter or MacClare?"

"I met Miss Smith this morning, she was struggling with a box in the rain." There was silence between the two for a moment. "Do you have any homework?" John asked, "if so start it now."

"I've got some reading for English, from Sense and Sensibility I know I have it on my Nook, can I use it for English?" Ruby said, "Miss Smith isn't afraid of giving homework on the first day, most teachers take the first day to just talk about the syllabus and talk about themselves, not her."

"Do you have Sense and Sensibility in print?" John asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes."

"Get the print version." Ruby sighed and moved into her room to find it.

As she looked for the book, John glanced out the window as a big moving truck pulled up to the house across the street from them. "Ruby, it looks like someone is moving in across the street." He called as he heard her coming into the kitchen.

"Do we have the ingredients for Banana Bread to take over to them?" Ruby asked. They moved around the kitchen, John cooking, and Ruby getting the ingredients out for her favorite, Banana bread.

"Do the reading for homework, then you can make it after dinner, we can give it to them tomorrow." John said.

"Okay." Ruby said, she grabbed her book again and went into the parlor, flipping open the book and starting to read.

The week passed by quickly, and soon it was Saturday, Miss Smith pulled up a right on time outside the flat. "Bye Dad." Ruby left quickly, wanting to get the morning over with.

"Good morning Ruby." Anna could tell that Ruby was not looking forward to spending the morning with her, but she tried to be pleasant.

"Morning." Ruby pulled a pop tart from her bag and opened it up. "What am I going to be helping you with today?"

"You're actually going to be painting over the mess you made on Monday," Anna said, "if you finish it then you'll be helping me with filing some paper work."

"Okay." Ruby said. Anna glanced over at the girl, something was wrong, she could tell. She had looked up the girl's file, and asked Mrs. Hughes about Ruby, but hadn't gotten much. It seemed that the Bates' were very private people, and all Anna had found out was that Ruby's mother, Vera had left when Ruby was nine years old and that her father, John Bates, the Chief Inspector with the Ripon police force was raising her as a single father. Other then that there wasn't much, but just one look at her and Anna could tell that someone, or something had hurt the girl.

"How did your doctor appointment go?" Anna asked, figuring that was a good place to start.

Ruby shrugged, "It was boring, my therapist thinks I need to get a hobby besides chorus. She needs to stop prying into my life, honestly."

"Therapists do tend to get into your private life, even if you wish they wouldn't." Anna agreed, so Mr. Bates knew about whatever was hurting his daughter and was helping her, good.

She pulled up into the school parking lot, "Lets go, Ruby." The teen sighed heavily, and both women got out of the car.

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	3. Chapter 3

_**Here's chapter 3, thank you to those who have reviewed, I love getting them.**_

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John pushed the buggy around the small store, grabbing what he needed off the shelves. He had picked Ruby up from her Saturday school, she was waiting in the car while he got groceries.

"Mr. Bates." he turned at the sound of the friendly voice.

"Hello Miss Smith," he responded.

"I didn't realize you shopped here," She said, pulling her buggy next to his. She went up onto her tiptoes to reach for a box of pasta, she couldn't quite reach and John easily grabbed it and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Anna put it in the buggy and they both started to walk together down the aisle.

"Except for the spray paint fiasco, Ruby seems like a good kid." Anna said.

"She is a good kid, but her best friend Abby moved away over the summer, I'm not surprised that she's having trouble adjusting." John said, "The spray paint thing surprised me though, although I suppose she would act out. Abby's mom was like a mother to Ruby. I should have expected that she'd have trouble adjusting to being without a mother again."

"If there's anything I can do I'll be happy to help." Anna told him, they continued to walk, both grabbing things off the shelves.

"Considering you're one of her teachers you should know what's going on, but the grocery really isn't the place."

"All right, how about we meet sometime to talk?" Anna asked, "we could meet at the cafe on Main street."

"That's fine, the sooner the better, Ruby's got a baby sitting job tomorrow so we can meet up then, can we meet there about noon?"

"That sounds fine." Anna said, she looked up at him, "why don't I call your mobile, so we have each others phone number?"

After swapping phone numbers they separated, going to different parts of the small grocery store.

The next day, Anna got to the cafe early, after ordering a tea, she found a table and sat down to wait.

"Oh, Hello Ms. Smith." A quiet voice made her turn. It was one of the teachers she worked with, he was tall, balding and seemed very nervous.

"Hello." Anna said, trying to place his name, she remembered he worked in the Science department, but couldn't remember his name. "Now, I've forgotten your name, could you remind me?" she asked, using a trick her mother had taught her.

"Moseley." the man said, disappointed that she'd forgotten his name.

Anna smiled, "I'm so sorry." she apologized, I meant your first name, I remember you told me but I can't remember it now, I'm so sorry."

"Joseph. Joseph Moseley." the man said.

"Thank you so much." Anna smiled, "How are you today Joseph?"

"Doing well, and you?"

"Very well, thank you."

"If you're not waiting for anyone, you can come join me at my table if you'd like." Moseley said.

Anna smiled in apology, "I'm actually waiting to meet a parent, to talk about a student, but thank you for the kind offer."

"Ah, well, if you finish before I leave you can come join me."

"Thank you so much Mr. Moseley." Anna said.

"Miss Smith." Both Anna and Moseley turned at the sound of Mr. Bates' voice.

"Mr. Bates." Anna was surprised at the smile that appeared on her face when she saw him.

"Mr. Moseley." Mr. Bates greeted the man. "I hope my daughter hasn't been giving you a hard time in class."

"No, not at all, Ruby is the best behaved student in my class." Moseley said, "Even when she and Abigail Murphy were in the same class, she never caused any trouble."

"I'm glad." Bates said, Anna glanced up at Moseley.

"I'll see you at work." Moseley left then, leaving Anna and Mr. Bates at their table.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me." Mr. Bates said, he was dressed in a black button down shirt, jeans and a sports jacket. It surprised her that she noticed what he was wearing, after what had happened at her previous teaching job she had sworn off men.

"It's my pleasure Mr. Bates."

"Please, call me John." His own request seemed to surprise him and he stammered a little as he continued talking. "If you want to of course, it's your choice."

"Thank you, what did you want to tell me about Ruby?" she changed the subject, he seemed grateful for it and nodded.

"Ruby's mother left, a little over six years ago. There's been a police investigation but she's nowhere to be found."

"Ruby mentioned therapy yesterday, I'm guessing she's in therapy for that."

"Yes, I won't lie Vera wasn't the best of mothers, but it still hurt and really threw both of us for a loop when she left without warning."

"I can imagine." Anna took a sip of her tea.

"According to law, if a spouse leaves then the remaining spouse can't get a divorce until there's been a police investigation to prove that they aren't at fault for the disappearance and seven years have passed without any contact."

"And the seven year anniversary is soon." Anna realized.

"That's right." There was a pause. "I want a divorce from Vera, not so I can get alimony or child support, I don't want that, but when she left, she left a note for me saying that when she got settled, Ruby was free to come live with her. I didn't let Ruby see it, but she found it a few months later by accident. My daughter doesn't want to live with her mother. I want the divorce, so that I can get full custody. I know it will be granted to me, I've taken care of her, Vera left. No judge in his right mind would give Vera custody even if she were to show up before the seven year anniversary."

Anna nodded quietly. "You want the stability for Ruby." John nodded in agreement.

"Yes."

They continued to talk, only stopping when Mr. Bates' phone rang, it was Ruby reminding him that she needed to be picked up from her babysitting job. "I'll be there soon." Mr. Bates promised, he disconnected the call and turned to Anna.

"Thank you for telling me about all this, I know it's really none of my business, but if if anything happens I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thank you." John said, he got up, "It was good to talk with you." he said warmly.

Anna smiled, "it was good to talk to you as well."

"I'll see you on parents day." He said. "Have a nice day." And with that, he turned around and left.

The drive to the Branson's was short, and Ruby jumped in, "Sybbie's so much fun." she gushed. "I can't believe I just got paid to play with her for a few hours."

"That's good that you had a nice time," John said, his mind elsewhere, he was replaying his conversation with Miss Smith over in his head. She hadn't seemed to notice when he'd verbally fallen over his feet, when he'd asked her to call him John. She was his daughter's teacher and as nice as she seemed, it probably wasn't a good idea to flirt and date at the moment, Ruby needed his attention more.

"Dad!" Ruby raised her voice and John realized that she'd been trying to get his attention for a few moments.

"Yes, what is is Ruby?"

"I asked if we could have Pizza tonight, I think we have all the ingredients."

"Sure." John said, still slightly distracted.

"Where's your mind Dad?" Ruby asked. "You're distracted."

"I'm just thinking." John said.

"Were you with a girl?" Ruby drawled out the last word, teasing him. John flushed and Ruby gasped. "Oh my gosh, I was just teasing you, but you were weren't you?" He glanced from the road to his daughter just to make sure he was hearing her right. She seemed happy about the fact that he'd been with a girl.

"We met up at a cafe for tea." John said, "We talked."

"You should go out with her again." Ruby volunteered suddenly. "You look happier, she must be great."

"I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to date her." John told his daughter.

"Why not?"

"We...We've worked together in the past and we may work together in the future, I'd rather not put both our jobs on the line for a nice dinner."

"Oh." John tried not to feel guilty about the lie, but he was sure that there was a rule somewhere in Levinson Academy that teacher's couldn't date student's parents and he wasn't going to tell Ruby that he had a crush on one of her teachers.

"She is nice though." John said, more to himself than to Ruby.

"Is she pretty?"

"Yes, and kind."

"Well if there was a way to ask her out and not put both your jobs on the line, I think you should." Ruby told him.

"We'll see." John said. He pulled up to their flat, "Come one Ruby, let's go make pizza."

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	4. Chapter 4

_**Here's chapter 4! Hope you enjoy, thank you to those who have reviewed, I love getting reviews.**_

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"Where is your mind tonight Anna?" Mary Crawley asked, she set both hers and Anna's drinks down before slipping into the booth Anna had commandeered. "It's the weekend stop thinking about your students."

"I'm not thinking about my students, I'm thinking about..." She halted, mid sentence.

"You're thinking about a guy aren't you?" Mary asked, sipping her martini. Anna's sudden blush made her smile and she leaned forward. "Details, Anna. You know I won't give up until I've got the information I want."

Anna rolled her eyes and sighed, pretending to be frustrated, but she was smiling and she took a sip of her drink. "He's tall, dark hair, dark eyes, and..." she trailed off, as she remembered what John had looked like earlier in the day. "He _really_ knows how to wear a pair of jeans."

Mary raised an eyebrow, "What's his name?"

"John."

"Nice strong name." Mary commented, "Do you have a date setup?"

"No, we met earlier though, for tea."

"Well that's something." Marry muttered to herself before asking another question. "Why don't you ask him out? I can tell you're interested."

"I'm probably not supposed to date him, he's one of my student's parents. I'm sure there's a rule somewhere."

"You teach what years again?"

"Years nine through eleven." Anna said, "And Mary Josephine Crawley, don't meddle in my love life."

"How would I meddle?" Mary's tone was too innocent.

Anna raised an eyebrow, "you would find a way, get your mother, or someone at the school to pull up all the kids I teach who have single father's named John and then contact each one." She rolled here eyes. "Don't Mary."

"Well, I still think you should ask him out." Mary said. "You never have any fun, you need to get out more, why did you leave Gilingham Prep academy?" She changed the subject. "You had a good social life, you had a good job, it paid more then Mother's school does." She instantly regretted her words though, as it looked like somebody had snuffed the light out in Anna's eyes.

"I needed something new." Anna said, staring at her drink.

Mary changed the subject again, "I accidentally taught Sybbie a new word last week, and I'm in trouble with Sybil and Tom now because of it..."

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Across town, Robert Crawley and John Bates watched the football game at their favorite bar. "Ruby said you had a date." Robert told his friend.

John rolled his eyes, "It wasn't a date, it was tea."

"She said she's never seen you like that, almost as if you're swooning over this girl..."

"She's a lady." John interrupted Robert. "She's not a girl, she's a lady. One look at her and I know she's too good for me."

"I knew that when I met Cora, and we've been married for nearly 30 years." Robert offered.

"She doesn't know about my time in prison." John told him. "Most women run when they hear that."

"Maybe she won't." Robert said, "Who is she?"

John shook his head. "I don't have a chance with her."

"What does she look like?"

In response, John took a long drink and then shook his head, he was clearly thinking about whoever this lady was. "Blonde hair, pretty, looks soft." He took in a deep breath. "Nice eyes, but looks sad like something happened. Pretty smile. She's short, at least a foot shorter then I am."

Robert's military sense were tingling, it almost sounded like he was describing his daughter's best friend Anna, who had been hired on to teach at Cora's school. "She's kind, has a good heart." There was a long pause. "And there is no way on earth we could ever date, she is way too good for me and I'm sure there's a rule that says we shouldn't date."

"Rule where?" Robert asked, giving his friend a long look.

"She's Ruby's English teacher, when we met up for tea, I was giving her a heads up that Ruby might act up this year if we can get the divorce to go through." John said, "But I'm sure there's a rule that says parents can't date teachers."

"There's actually no rule that says that." Robert said, "Cora went over the teachers rule book a few years ago when Gwen Dawson got married."

"There isn't?"

Robert shook his head, "You can ask Anna out."

"What would we do?"

"The community theater's run of Hamlet is coming to an end on Sunday, Anna likes Shakespeare. Pie would be good for dessert as well."

"God, has it really been so long that I need your help coming up with date ideas?" John took another long swallow.

"Yes, now, call Anna and ask her out."

"Not tonight, I sound drunk." John said, finishing off his half pint.

"And you're cut off for the rest of the night." Robert said, he reached forward and took John's glass away from him. "No more for him." Robert told the barkeeper who nodded in agreement. He turned back to John. "And you and I both know you drink three times this and not even feel the effects, call Anna, ask her out."

"I know I'm going to regret this..." John got his phone out.

"You have her number?"

"We exchanged numbers when we decided to meet up to talk about Ruby." John said defensively, he suddenly gestured to the bar around them, "I won't be able to hear her with the noise, I'll go outside."

John went outside, and pressed the dial button on his cell phone.

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"Mary, he's calling me."

"Who?" Mary sat down as Anna's phone started to vibrate.

"John, the guy I told you about."

"Answer it."

"Hello?" Anna said, her tone was calm but her eyes were wide with shock.

"Anna?" Anna could have recognized Mr. Bates' quite voice anywhere.

"Yes, this is she."

"I uhhh, I've got a question for you."

"Yes?" Anna said, what had caused John Bates to call her at nine at night?

"There's a community play, in Thirsk on Saturday, I've got tickets, and we can get pie too. It's good, and there's not a rule that says we can't go out, I checked." Anna had to bite back a laugh, she wasn't trying to be mean, but she could tell that John was nervous and he'd always seemed so in control of a situation, even when Ruby had been in trouble it hadn't made him nervous or fall apart. And now he was.

"I'd love to go to the theatre." Anna said, "And have pie afterward, thank you for checking to see if there was a rule against us dating."

"I didn't want to ask you out and have you get into trouble." John still seemed nervous, and Anna tried to put the man at ease.

"That was very kind of you Mr. Bates to do that, when should I meet you where?"

"If you give me your address I'll be happy to pick you up at seven."

After giving him her address, and promising to be ready by seven on Saturday, they hung up.

Mary raised an eyebrow as Anna took her drink back. "Well?"

"We're going to see a play on Saturday and have pie after."

Marry grinned, "Well you know what that means, we..." she motioned between the two of them, "get to play dress up."

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	5. Chapter 5

_**and it's been forever and a day since I posted on this story. I don't really have an exscuse but I have an apology and a promise to do better. Enjoy!**_

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"Are you sure this isn't too much?" Anna was critically looking at her reflection in the mirror. "He seemed nervous when he asked me out, I don't want to scare the poor guy off. It's our first date, he's not proposing."

"Maybe it's a little much for a first date." Mary reluctantly agreed, she handed Anna another dress. "What about this one?"

"Why do I have to wear a dress anyway, what about a nice blouse and pants? Or a skirt?"

"You look best in blue and green and everything in blue or green was a dress." Mary replied instantly. She shook the dress in front of Anna. "Try this one on."

Anna grabbed the dress and huffed her way into the dressing room. She changed into it, tossing the other dress over the door for Mary to catch and put back onto a hanger. She emerged, pulling on the dress. "I don't think this fits right." She said.

"Yeah, that doesn't work." Mary agreed instantly. She held up another dress and Anna took it.

"This looks really short," she said coming out of the dressing room.

"You know, if you wore leggings under it, it would look dressy casual." Mary said. She walked around Anna, scrutinizing her friend.

"This would be a really great dress if it weren't so short." Anna said, "I can barely ride the big kid rides at amusement parks, how can this dress be short on me?"

"I like it." Sybil Branson spoke from her perch on a nearby chair. "Where are you going again?"

"Community theater in Thirsk, they have a play that's ending this week, we're going out for pie afterward." Anna said.

"You know, it almost sounds as if he got coached by you Mary on the perfect first date for Anna." Sybil said, she got up, and circled Anna as well. "Who are you going out with again, Anna?"

"His name is John."

"Oooh, John's a good name."

"He's a good man, when we met up for tea on Sunday, we were supposed to go dutch, but he insisted on buying me a small treat, I let him buy me a small packet of the biscuit's that the cafe on Main sells."

"That was nice of him."

"So we've decided on this one?" Anna asked twirling in front of the mirror.

"As long as you put something on underneath it."

"Now we must hurry if I'm to take a shower before I get picked up." Anna said, she hurried to change into her street clothes and the three girls went to the register to buy their purchases.

Anna hurried home, showered and got dressed, she was just finishing up her make up when she heard a knock at the door. John stood there, clearly nervous, as she opened the door.

"Come in for a moment while I get my earrings in." Anna said, John stepped inside and closed the door as she hurried to her bathroom and finished getting ready.

He looked around her small flat, it was small but well organized. It was clear that Anna knew how to keep house.

"You have a nice home," John said, as Anna reappeared from the bathroom. His mouth hung as he took in the dress Anna was wearing.

She noticed him staring and she spoke, "This isn't too much is it?"

"No, it's perfect." He looked her up and down, the dress was a light blue, and only came to her mid thigh, but she had on a pair of dark leggings underneath it. "That's a very pretty outfit and you look very pretty in it."

Anna blushed "Thank you," her hands fluttered nervously around her dress, patting it. "Aren't you the gentleman?" she smiled up at him, his heart flopped in his chest.

He gestured to the door, "Shall we go?"

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Hours later, they came back, laughing as if they'd been friends for years. "Thank you John, I had a good time tonight." Anna turned to face him as they reached her door.

"So did I, I'm glad you had a good time," he shuffled nervously. "Uhh, I was wondering, if you'd like to go uhh, I noticed that there's music in the park on Saturday, if you'd like to go."

Anna pretended to think hard for a moment, she tried to act serious, but couldn't help but smile. She'd had a really good time and was looking forward to another date with John. "Will there be more pie?" she asked.

"All the pie you can eat." John promised, smiling.

"Well then I don't have a choice but to say yes." Anna giggled. They laughed for a moment and John quickly leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I should get going, let you get to bed."

Anna went up onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to John's cheek, the feel of her lips stayed on his cheek after she pulled away. He could smell the perfume she was wearing, the subtle vanilla-raspberry scent had been teasing him all night. "I do have lesson plans to do, I'll see you on Saturday."

"I'll see you on Saturday."

He left then, and drove home. Ruby was still up when he got in and he pointed towards her bedroom. "It's after your bedtime."

"I just wanted to know how your date went." Ruby said. "Did you have a good time?"

"Very good time, we're going out again on Saturday." John said. "Have you brushed your teeth?"

"Yes, what are you doing on Saturday?"

"NOYB." John told his daughter. "Bed."

Ruby sighed and got off the couch. "Fine." She went into her bedroom "Oh, Nana called, asked you to call her in the morning. She was happy you were out on a date."

John made a mental note to call his mother in the morning and went to bed.

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